TNT Youth Leaders on Violence Prevention During the Pandemic
Posted May 29, 2020
TNT Voices & Insights -
TNT youth leaders from Castlemont and Fremont high schools were asked by Youth Today to give their thoughts on life during the pandemic and especially on violence an violence prevention in this difficult time. As always, they had lots of good, thoughtful things to say. Read the article here.
Hospital-Based Violence Intervention in The Guardian
Posted May 4, 2020
Early Intervention Brings Victims Hope -
An article in The Guardian features illuminating interviews with two former victims of gun violence who were clients of Youth ALIVE!’s Caught in the Crossfire (CiC) hospital-based violence intervention program (HVIPs). CiC was the nation’s first program to recognize the benefit to young victims of having someone from their community, who understands the effects of deep trauma, to support them on their very difficult path to healing. Now staff from HVIPs, as they are known, step into victims’ lives in dozens of cities across America (for info, see the website of The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, aka The HAVI). More and more the nation sees gun violence as a public health issue that can be solved through a public health approach, and through healing. Caheri Gutierrez (former YA! Teens On Target violence prevention educator) and Jeremy Posey tell their emotional, painful, triumphant stories of violence and a fight to get back to life. YA Intervention Director Kyndra Simmons is also interviewed. Kyndra had this to say:
TNT youth leaders Greg and Jackie were interviewed on KPFA Radio’s UpFront program in March to talk about life for young people in East Oakland during the shelter-in-place era. They were calm, wise and engaging and showed what true leadership sounds like, by bringing solid information, helpful suggestions and honesty. Their segment starts at 19:55 and goes for about 10 great minutes. Give a listen here - KPFA - Upfront.
Youth ALIVE! Policy and Advocacy Manager Gabriel Garcia will speak live from Sacramento via Zoom on Tuesday afternoon, April 21st at 4 p.m. to inform us on the state of the State Legislature during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place era.
Violence is a public health issue. The best way to prevent or reduce violence, and to sustain that reduction is to treat violence as an epidemic, to pay attention to those who suffer, to heal the trauma that acts like a virus in its rapid and virulent spread. Our goal is not only to get the world to see violence as a public health issue, but also to get those who work on the front lines to heal victims, like the Intervention Specialists in our Caught in the Crossfire program, to be seen as healthcare professionals, and to be reimbursed for their care through traditional medical reimbursement systems. In this we are making progress, through the leadership of Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, formerly the NNHVIP, now known as The HAVI. This paper, published in The Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, from Johns Hopkins Press, and co-authored by Youth ALIVE! Executive Director, Anne Marks, explains the process and why the professional designation is important to organizations, providers and victims.
On March 13th, (when OUSD schools closed), all non-essential Youth ALIVE! activities moved to remote and virtual platforms. As a public health organization that sees and treats violence as an epidemic, we know how important it is to stop the spread of a disease. And we know it is possible.
Coach Omari Sinclair’s Midnight Basketball team was 3 - 2.
This year, for the first time, Oakland held a midnight basketball league in winter. Youth ALIVE!’s Violence Interrupter team was a big part of the 6-week winter league for youth ages 16 to 26, which came to a close in early March. It will pick back up come summer. Midnight Basketball is an effort to reach at-risk youth and to give them something fun to do on Friday nights. There’s food. There’s coaching and instruction. There are four games going at a time. And before each Friday night’s games begin, a local service organization has an hour to talk to the players about their lives, about life, and about safety and violence prevention in Oakland.
A bill in the State Assembly’s current session seeks to help more families of homicide victims obtain financial assistance to pay for funerals and other expenses in the aftermath of violence. Families of the killed in California are eligible for funds meant to, among other things, help allay funeral costs. Funerals are expensive and many families of homicide victims are already struggling when a killing occurs. The sudden violent death of a loved-one brings a sudden financial burden as well. The median cost of a funeral is over $7,000. An important part of what Youth ALIVE!’s Caught in the Crossfire program does is to assist reeling families in navigating the victim compensation application process. By and large, this compensation represents a small blessing for traumatized victims.
